Supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (SF-CO₂) was used to extract oil from Elaeagnus mollis Diels (E. mollis Diels) seed and its antioxidant ability was also investigated. The effect of extraction pressure (20⁻35 MPa), extraction temperature (35⁻65 C), extraction time (90⁻180 min) and seed particle size (40⁻100 mesh) on the oil yield were studied. An orthogonal experiment was conducted to determine the best operating conditions for the maximum extraction oil yield. Based on the optimum conditions, the maximum yield reached 29.35% at 30 MPa, 50 C, 150 min, 80 mesh seed particle size and 40 g/min SF-CO2 flow rate. The E. mollis Diels seed (EDS) oil obtained under optimal SF-CO2 extraction conditions had higher unsaturated fatty acid content (91.89%), higher vitamin E content (96.24 ± 3.01 mg/100 g) and higher total phytosterols content (364.34 ± 4.86 mg/100 g) than that extracted by Soxhlet extraction (SE) and cold pressing (CP) methods. The antioxidant activity of the EDS oil was measured by DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging test. EDS oil extracted by different methods exhibited a dose-dependent antioxidant ability, with IC50 values of no significant differences. Based on the results of correlation between bioactive compounds, lupeol and -tocopherol was the most important antioxidant in EDS oil.
Keywords: Elaeagnus mollis Diels seed; antioxidant activity; fatty acid composition; orthogonal optimization; supercritical carbon dioxide extraction.